I
enjoy reading and studying church history and the writings of other men. I
strongly encourage young men with aspirations for the ministry to familiarize
themselves with good commentaries, theological works, and written sermons. And
I have an appreciation for the creeds and confessions of our forefathers. But
my faith, my doctrine, and that which I teach and preach to others is not based
upon those things. “I believe God.” I
mean by that statement that everything I believe, every doctrine I preach is
specifically, clearly, and emphatically taught in the plain statements of Holy
Scripture. My doctrine is logical; but it is not based upon logic. My doctrine
is well established in the history of God’s church; but it is not based upon
history. My doctrine is based upon and rises from the plain statements of God’s
Word.

I
believe that God is absolutely sovereign
in all things, because the Bible says, “Our
God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased” (Psa.
115:3). “None can stay his hand, or say
unto him, What doest thou?” (Dan. 4:35). God declares, “I will do all my pleasure” (Isa. 46:10). God always does exactly
what he wants to do with everyone, in every place, and at all times. He is
sovereign in predestination, in creation, in providence, and in grace.

I
believe that “Salvation is of the Lord”,
because that is exactly what the Bible says (Jon. 29). “So then, it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but
of God that showeth mercy” (Rom. 9:16). Salvation is God’s work alone in
its planning, in its purchase, in its performance, in its preservation, in its
perfection, and in its praise.

I
believe in the total depravity of man, because
God says the heart of man is “deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). I believe in unconditional election, because God
says, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have
chosen you” (John 15:16). I believe in limited
atonement, because God says, “For the
transgressions of my people was he stricken” (Isa. 53:8). I believe in irresistible grace, because God says
that Christ’s people shall be willing in the day of his power (Psa. 110:3). I
believe in the perseverance of the
saints, because the Lord God says, “They
shall never perish” (John 10:28).

Let
the Arminians, work-mongers, and will-worshippers of the world hoot and holler
all they will, these things cannot be gainsayed. Those who denounce them
denounce the Word of God. Those who despise them despise the God who reveals
them, performs them, and attaches his glory to them (Eph. 1:3-14). My dogmatic
insistence upon these glorious basic, fundamental truths is necessitated by
this one thing - “I BELIEVE GOD!”